Liquid fuels for internal combustion engines and process and apparatus for making same

Abstract

Internal combustion engine liquid fuels are produced by the mixing of a natural gasoline component and at least one octane-enhancing component. The mix is weathered during the blending operation to remove light-weight hydrocarbons comprising one- to four-carbon components. The light-weight hydrocarbons, which preferably constitute less than 3 percent of the blended fuel, can be recovered to generate power to run the process. The liquid fuel mixture is formulated to produce a desired octane rating, an environmentally acceptable vapor pressure, and a mix which, when burned in an internal combustion engine, produces a minimum amount of pollutants.

I claim: 
     
       1. A process for producing liquid fuels for internal combustion engines, comprising the steps of withdrawing a stream of light-weight hydrocarbons from a natural gasoline component, and blending said natural gasoline component with at least one octane-enhancing component, said octane-enhancing component having an (R+M)/2 octane of at least about 85 and a vapor pressure less than about 8 psia. 
     
     
       2. The process of claim 1, comprising the steps of: a) producing a high-surface area liquid form of at least said natural gasoline component in an enclosure, whereby the release of light-weight hydrocarbons from the bulk liquid components into the enclosure will be encouraged;   b) withdrawing a vapor stream of said light-weight hydrocarbons from said enclosure; and,   c) blending said natural gasoline component with said octane-enhancing component, whereby the vapor pressure of the resulting blended liquid product is lower than that of the original combined components.   
     
     
       3. The process of claim 2, wherein said high-surface area producing step a) comprises the creation of droplets from said natural gasoline. 
     
     
       4. The process of claim 3, wherein said droplets are produced by the agitation of said liquid components. 
     
     
       5. The process of claim 4, wherein said agitation step comprises the step of directing a stream of said liquid components against a solid object in said enclosure, said enclosure having a vapor space, said vapor stream being withdrawn from said vapor space. 
     
     
       6. The process of claim 5, wherein said agitation step comprises the step of pumping said liquid components to the top of a column, and directing a stream of said liquid components downwardly against a mechanical device within said column, said liquid components collecting in a bottom, liquid space portion of said column, said vapors flowing to an upper, vapor space portion of said column, said vapor stream being withdrawn from said vapor space portion of said column. 
     
     
       7. The process of claim 2, wherein said vapor stream of step b) is subjected to a liquid removal step comprising at least one of a coalescing or a condensation step, liquid product from said liquid removal step being returned to said high-surface area producing step a). 
     
     
       8. The process of claim 7, wherein said coalescing step comprises passing said vapor stream through an enclosure having high surface area coalescing means. 
     
     
       9. The process of claim 8, wherein said liquid removal step comprises passing said vapor stream through a column containing packing. 
     
     
       10. The process of claim 2, wherein bulk liquid product is collected from said high-surface area producing step a) and is returned to said step a) through a continuous recycling process. 
     
     
       11. The process of claim 1, wherein said octane-enhancing components are selected from the group consisting of toluene; methyl tertiary butyl ether; tertiary anyl methyl ether; ethyl tertiary butyl ether; ethylbenzene; m-xylene; p-xylene; o-xylene; eight carbon aromatic mixtures; nine carbon aromatic mixtures; isopropylbenzene; n-propylbenzene; alkylates, catalytic cracked naphtha; catalytic reformate; and pyrolysis gasoline. 
     
     
       12. A process for producing liquid fuel for internal combustion engines, comprising the steps of: a) blending liquid components comprising a natural gasoline component and at least one octane-enhancing component;   b) producing a high-surface area form of said liquid components of step a) in an enclosure having a vapor space portion and a liquid space portion, said liquid components collecting in said liquid space portion of said enclosure, vapors accumulating in said vapor space portion of said enclosure, a vapor stream being withdrawn from said vapor space portion of said enclosure;   c) a liquid removal step in which low-weight hydrocarbons present in said vapor stream are removed and returned to said blending step a), said liquid removal step further producing a light-weight hydrocarbon vapor product;   d) said light-weight hydrocarbon vapor product of said liquid removal step c) being burned to generate power, said power being utilized to provide energy for said process; and,   e) said process continuing until said liquid components have a composition of between about between about 60 and about 80 volume percent natural gasoline, and between about 20 and about 40 volume percent octane-enhancing components.   
     
     
       13. A process for producing a liquid fuel for internal combustion engines, comprising the steps of: a) blending liquid components comprising a natural gasoline component and an octane-enhancing component; and,   b) withdrawing a vapor stream of light-weight hydrocarbons from said liquid components, whereby the vapor pressure of the resulting blended liquid product will be decreased.